21st Nov 2008
The two sure do go together - especially for me right now. I always knew I was an emotional eater but lately with all the new responsibilities I have at work I’m glad I don’t bring more for lunch than I do because I’d be eatin’ it! NOW!
And, I love my job. I work for a great guy, but I’ve taken over the job of managing his building and wow is it stressful. I guess I’ll see if I can maintain my weight and do this too. Every time I turn around someone has a problem or something on the building is in a state of emergency. I simply don’t have the temperament for that kind of thing but I’m trying.
The economy has tanked so badly I should just shut up and be glad I have a job…especially since I work for a really nice guy (and he rarely reads my blog! so there’s no kiss up going on here - he really is great) and I’m nuts about his wife. Neil and I consider them good friends.
It would be far more stressful to be without a job and I know there are those of you out there that are - out of a job. Situations like that (stress related) make me feel like I’m out of control - maybe that’s what drives me to eat - two out of control things merging together - my life and my relationship with food. But remember - it is far worse to be stressed out and gaining weight. You’re just adding more stress to your life in so many ways. I have to talk to Fat Kitty a lot on days like this and you should talk to yourself too.
We can all make it through this very stressful time. We can! We’ve seen worse and lived through it; wars, 9/11 and the death of a family member. My sweet Momma (who passed away 4 years ago) used to say, “In one hundred years will it really matter?” The answer to most of life’s problems is “No.” The thing is, we need to believe that.
I’m trying to believe that right now as I wait for the A/C guy to call back to fix the air, the bug guy to call back because one of our suites has ants, our handy man to finish painting the upstairs hall - trying his best to make this older building look new, the sprinklers aren’t working and the ivy is dying - and the construction upstairs on one of the suits has probably ruined the hall carpet. YIKES! I already ate my lunch and I brought a banana, but am trying to wait and save it for later - NO I’M LYING - I WANT TO GO TO THE GAS STATION NEXT DOOR AND BUY 10 CANDY BARS AND EAT THEM ALL…
But I will not. (I hope.)
FYI - Just got calls from the bug guy and the AC guy. Whew! They can come today after all… Now where is that banana?
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12th Nov 2008
I’ve been slammed at work so haven’t had time to write up the fried chicken recipe but it’s too good to not pass on so I’m gonna describe it in a nutshell so you can go ahead and make this yourself.
And this works for any meat - I fried pork chops this past Friday night and they were even better than the fried chicken I made the week before! I hope soon to try veggies. I love fried okra and zucchini!
BUT FIRST THE TECHNIQUE!
This came to me in a dream. I love fried food (hey I’m from the south and we’re raised on it) and I never eat it anymore thinking that I can’t - too high in fat and calories. But now you CAN!
You will need a casserole pan, skewers (you know, the things you cook kabobs on) longer than the length OR width of the pan (because you are going to hang your meat on the sides of this pan so that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the pan), whole wheat flour, seasonings, fat free milk and butter flavored cooking spray.
Cut your meat (chicken, pork or beef) into strips and place into a bowl of FF milk to soak. Take a gallon baggie and pour your whole wheat flour into it. (I’m not giving a measurement on how much just yet, but pour at least a cup of flour in here) Generously season this flour (and I have not gotten it salty enough yet, so don’t skimp here) with salt, Lawrey’s Season Salt, Garlic salt and pepper. If you love and cook fried food you basically put the same seasoning in this you would anyway - the only difference here is that you need to use Whole Wheat flour.
Take a few pieces of meat out of the milk and one at a time put them in the baggie full of flour and shake until coated well. And I do all of my meat before I go to the next stage but once you do this you’ll figure out your own system.
Take your skewers and load the meat on and I pack it on pretty good. My skewers have sagged I put so much on it, but I’m mindful to not smash the mean too close together becasue I want the crust to cook and be crunchy and as close to real fried food as possible.
Once you have your meat coated with flour and on the skewers, lay it down on a surface (I use a large cutting board) and then take your butter flavored cooking spray and hold it at least 12 inches away (too close the the flour blows off) and generously coat one side of the skewer. I then take that full skewer and turn it over and hang it on the casserole pan making sure the bottom touches nothing and then I generously spray withcooking spray again so that both sides are coated with cooking spray. This will help it brown. The first time I cooked this I only sprayed one side and the other side looked like raw flour - not appetizing!
I load up the casserole pan completely and once I’m done I cook in a preheated over at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or so (this will depend on how hot your oven cooks) and then the last 5 to 10 minutes turn up the heat to 400 to get it crisp. It will not get as crisp as real fried chicken but close enough that you simply will not believe it. But don’t overcook. Those last few minutes on 400 be careful not to burn it.
Since whole wheat flour has 100 calories per 1/4 cup, I figure that there’s much less than a tablespoon on each piece of meat. It takes 4 tablespoons to make 1/4 cup so that’s 25 calories. I’m thinking that each piece I cooked had about 15 or so extra calories per piece of meat and there are only 125 calories in 4 oz of boneless skinless chicken breast (and that’s more than you think - it’s like 4 good sized chicken strips). So if you do the math THIS IS ALMOST LIKE EATING CHICKEN, BEEF OR PORK WITH ONLY THE CALORIES THEY ORIGINALLY POSSESS!!!!! Now Pork has close to 200 calories per 4 oz serving and Beef has about the same as Pork - but think about having fried pork and it’s only 250 calories or so for a very generous serving. YUM!
I mix ketchup and horseradish together for a sauce to beat the band for the chicken and the pork is great with that or with a honey mustard sauce (see my recipe for this).
I have had this for the past two weekends and one thing I have discovered is that this is even better the next day microwaved. I couldn’t believe that. Fried food always gets greasy but I guess since there’s no grease it doesn’t do that. I made a fried chicken sandwich and fried pork wraps.
This will blow your mind and I can’t wait for someone else to try this and let me know what they think!
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4th Nov 2008
I finally figured out a way to fry Chicken without frying it! I think I’ll call it “NO FRY - FRIED CHICKEN” You won’t believe it - and that recipe is coming as soon as I can write it down and get it posted. It’s 150 calories for four ounces and that’s 4 good sized chicken strips ready and waitin’ for dipping sauce. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In that case I think I’ll take a double order!!!
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